Pope may grant wider use of Pius V Missal during Holy Week

Vatican City, Apr 10, 2006 / 12:00 am (CNA).- A
source at the Vatican has told CNA that during Holy Week Pope Benedict
XVI may grant universal permission to use the Missal of St. Pius V, the
liturgical rite used in the Church before Vatican II.

According to the
source, the announcement could come “between Holy Thursday and Easter
Sunday,” but the exact day has not yet been set. Nevertheless,
the source said the decision has already been made by the Holy Father
and that it’s “only a matter of time” before it is publicly announced.

“A minor
official gesture by the Holy Father would be enough to allow the Mass
according to the 1962 Missal to celebrated by whoever desires to do so,
thus reiterating that this rite is still valid today simply because it
was not abolished,” the source told CNA.

The announcement
would be in the context of “the reform of the reform” that Pope
Benedict XVI is promoting, which includes norms and principles that
will be made public in the upcoming post-synod Apostolic Exhortation on
the Eucharist.

At the same
time, such a gesture by the Pope could contribute to ending the schism
with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, founded by Archbishop
Marcel Lefebvre in 1988.

On Saturday,
Pope Benedict XVI named three new members to the Ecclesia Dei
Commission, created by Pope John Paul II in order to reach out to the
Lefebvrists. They are Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Jean-Pierre
Richard, Archbishop of Bordeaux of president of the Bishops’ Conference
of France, and Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera of Toledo, Spain.